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Qatar announced Sunday, April 22, it had become the latest Gulf country to be affected by foot-and-mouth disease, following the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.

"Suspected cases have been detected among the livestock of a private farm, which rears cows and goats, and measures have been taken to treat the sick animals and vaccinate those that have not been affected," said a Qatari agriculture ministry spokesman.

The spokesman, quoted by the official QNA agency, said these were "the first cases of foot-and-mouth disease to be recorded this year in Qatar."

Earlier Sunday, Kuwait said it had taken precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the animal illness after the discovery of a number of cases in a farming area southwest of Kuwait City, a statement said.

State Minister for Cabinet Affairs Mohammad Sharar said in a report presented to the weekly cabinet meeting that "a number of cases have been detected in one farm, but there was no cause for concern."

The disease has also been reported in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, where the agriculture ministry announced at the start of April that 3,800 cases of foot-and-mouth disease had been detected in 67 sites. — (AFP, Doha)